Watch Muse Drone Crash Into Audience During Concert

One of Muse's large drone props malfunctioned and descended into the crowd during a London concert. Christopher Polk/Getty

Rock concert props can be dazzling, but also dangerous. During Yes’ 1974 tour, drummer Alan White once found himself trapped inside a large seashell – inspiring a similar debacle in mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. Muse achieved their own moment of stage infamy during their Thursday show at London’s 02 Arena, as a large, blimp-shaped drone – ironing home the themes of their 2015 LP, Drones– crashed into the audience. According to NME, no fans have reported injuries from the incident, which is available to view via crowd-filmed footage.

The technical miscue occurred Thursday night, during the third show of a four-night residency at the London arena. The drone – which fans have dubbed “dildrone” – attempted to fly over the audience as the band performed “The Globalist,” but the device only made it halfway around the venue before making its slow descent.

A video posted by James Hatherill (@jamesh134) on Apr 15, 2016 at 2:45am PDT

Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy was inspired to write the band’s drone warfare concept LP after reading Dartmouth professor Brian Glyn Williams’ book Predators: The CIA’s Drone War on al Qaeda. The singer-guitarist spoke to Rolling Stone about the album’s dark themes – and the band’s plans to amplify them on the road.

“Its going to be even more theatrical than probably any show we’ve done in North America,” he said. “I don’t want to promise too much, but we want to incorporate drones into the show. I don’t know what health and safety will allow us to do, though.”